Freedom Writers

Watching “Freedom Writers” really got me thinking about my first year as a teacher and how difficult yet exciting that will be. I was really let down by the support and workers in the school, at first they shut down her lesson plans, they complained about the different cultures being at their school and how they are “bringing them down”, they had no hope for Erins students, and they are very judgmental. Erin Gruwell went in on her first day wanting to teach the students, she had an open mind and a purpose. Thankfully the students had Erin Gruwell as a teacher, considering the teachers in the past called them “dumb” and said they couldn’t learn. Erins teaching strategies related to the students in many ways. She changed her lesson plans to relate to the students, and to get them to accept each other and to be respectful. Some examples include when she played rap music and printed out song lyrics to teach internal rhyme and to bring that into her poetry lesson, played the “line game” where they would step up to the line if they have been in that experience, and the “toast for change” where they all got to openly share their thoughts and feelings. Erin accepted each student and truly changed their life. Freedom Writers and room 203 has a strong message for the public and for teachers and I hope someday I can make that much difference in a students life.